Prepare for, Survive and Live After a Hurricane

The document provides essential guidelines for preparing for, surviving, and recovering from a hurricane, emphasizing the importance of readiness well before a storm hits. It advises on home preparation, emergency supplies, and evacuation strategies, including securing windows, stocking up on water and food, and having an evacuation plan in place. The author also stresses the significance of communication tools, such as emergency apps and maintaining updated contact information, to enhance family safety during a hurricane crisis.

1. Prepare for, Survive, and Live After a Hurricane

2. The National Hurricane Center keeps a map of the likelihood of hurricanes and storms. How Likely Is A Hurricane In Your Area?

3. How Likely Is a Hurricane In Your Area?

4. If it’s not secured, it can move. In a change to a long-standing practice it is recommended YOU DO NOT TAPE YOUR WINDOWS. It just makes the shards larger and more dangerous if they blow out. Board windows. Plywood is easiest. There are ways to protect windows long term. In Boulder, Colorado, we had roll down steel shutters facing the mountains because we would get hundred mile an hour windows down off them. Do not crack windows open to “relieve pressure.” Preparing Your Home

5. Fasten your roof with tie down straps. Turn off gas and/or propane. Secure all outdoor furniture. Put in pool in you have one. Clear debris away that will become projectiles in high wind. Close garage doors. Preparing Your Home

6. Your Home Turn your freezer and refrigerator to their coldest settings. Pack any coolers with as much ice as possible and use this first before opening fridge once power goes out. Fill bathtubs with water. Make sure all vehicles are topped off. Know where the closest shelter for you and pets is. Unplug everything. Do not use tap water after a storm until certain it’s not contaminated. This is why water is a priority as seen later.

7. It’s too late to prepare once the hurricane is on you. There will also be a huge run of panicked people buying many of these same items, so get this now so you have it ready. This sounds trite, but after every hurricane, everyone lists these following items as things they wished they’d had on hand. Not only for the hurricane itself, but as importantly, for living afterwards in the chaos. What To Have Ready BEFORE!

8. Be ready to evacuate. Besides your Grab-n-Go bag (link at end) here are special considerations and advice from those who’ve been affected by hurricanes. -fuel your car and keep it topped off, even if you think you are not under direct threat. -it’s always good to have extra fuel. See my presentation on what you need in your automobile. -make a video of everything in your house and store it in the cloud, on a thumb drive, and elsewhere for insurance purposes. Preparation

9. Pack enough supplies (Grab-n-Go) but water is the most critical! Keep receipts of everything you buy while evacuated. Preparation

10. Key things to pack: Drivers license/photo ID/Passport Social Security Card Bank and credit cards Health insurance card Roadside assistance card Cash Extra fuel WATER Preparation

11. Key things to pack: Phone charger Deed for house Insurance paperwork Prescriptions First aid kit (a complete list is in Survival Guide) Preparation

12. Have a secure, water and fireproof lockbox always packed and ready to be grabbed. Also, uploading the information into the cloud gives you a backup.

13. Have enough for at least three days. Minimum is one gallon per person, per day. Double that for warm climates. 8 average 500ml water bottles is just over one gallon. A case of water (24 bottles) is the minimum three days supply per person. I recommend at least two cases per person. If you evacuate take these supplies with you. WATER

14. You must have a way of quickly filtering water for your family. Assume all water you find in nature is contaminated. Water supplies after a hurricane are usually polluted due to flooding. There is also a slightly more expensive system that doesn’t require pumping and works via gravity. Either one can be a lifesaver for your family.

15. This Sawyer Products Squeeze Filter is compact and useful in emergencies. I carry this one in my daypack and is a great choice for a GnG bag. There are water bottles with the filter built into the bottle which combines both filter and water carrier— Survivemate bottle filter on right.

16. If ordered to evacuate, do so. This means you need to plan ahead. Do you have a place to evacuate to? Motels and hotels will fill up quickly. Do you have family or friends you can stay with? It’s too late to plan this once the order to evacuate is announced. Also, have an out of area emergency Point of Contact that everyone in the family knows. This is the person everyone contacts to assure they are all right if they can’t get in contact with each other. Make sure everyone has key phone numbers WRITTEN DOWN in case their cell phone is lost or runs out of power and they have to use someone else’s or a landline. EVACUATE

17. Know what the emergency broadcast stations are. Below is a hand crank radio/flashlight combo I have on hand and in all my grab-n-go bags. Portable battery/hand crank radio.

18. Being able to see in the dark is key. Batteries tend to be heavy and get used up but AA/AAA are light and small. Also, with solar, you can use rechargeable lights. Consider the following array: Handcrank light (the one below also has window breaker, seatbelt cutter, USB cell phone charger); an LED rechargeable; a headlamp for moving and doing things in camp; and a single AAA light I keep in a sheath with my Leatherman Light

19. Since I list a rechargeable lighter on the previous page, power becomes an issue. I used to focus on using batteries for power, because rechargeable requires, well, charging. However, I’ve become a fan of solar, which allows a renewable power source from nature. This particular model is good because it has three charging cables built in on the back. Licorne Solar Charger 36800 mAh. Power

20. There are plenty of prepared ones you can buy. Below is one I have in my house and in my grab-n-go bags. Click on image for link. Make sure you have medications to last a week. Extra glasses, contacts, etc. First Aid Kit

21. How to turn off the water coming into the house. How to turn off the power. Where the safe spots in the house are. Where the family IRP— Immediate Rally Point— and ERP- emergency rally point— where all will gather is. Who the single out of area emergency point of contact is for the entire family. Everyone in your household needs to know:

22. The safest place is a basement. Stay away from windows and doors. The strongest room is often the bathroom or a walk in closet, or closest to the center of the house. In a two story house, the strongest wall is the stairwell. If no basement, stay on the first floor. If a window or door is bowing from the wind DO NOT push back on it. The wind is stronger than you. Protect yourself. Use flashlights, NOT candles! You do not want an open flame, especially as there are often gas leaks. During A Hurricane If Indoors.

23. Remember that a tidal surge can cause flooding. Storm Surge is VERTICAL! We had a neighbor on Hilton Head Island who thought it was horizontal. Just saying.

24. Do not light a match. Don’t move too much as you can cause further collapse. Tap on something, preferably a pipe, with something hard, rather than yell as you could inhale toxic dust. If you can see light and have a path, crawl toward it. If you encounter vertical rubble, check to see if it is load bearing before moving anything. Do not run a generator from inside your house or garage even if you open the windows. Do not run one on your balcony as you could be venting exhaust into your neighbor’s. During A Hurricane: If trapped.

25. Generators are like car engines. The more power you draw from them, the faster they use fuel. Turn off all non-essential items drawing power. A portable generator must be vented. NEVER run one inside your house or your garage. Make sure the vent isn’t close to an intake in the house. Over half of the deaths in the last hurricane were from people running generators in their houses and near their houses that weren’t properly ventilated— be careful! Generators

26. Carbon monoxide can kill. Be very, very careful when using a generator or even getting in your vehicle to run the engine. Do not run your vehicle in your garage. Make sure your generator is properly vented and outside. Don’t put your generator in your garage. I know a couple who died with a generator outside their mobile home, but the vent was near a window they kept open. They passed away in their sleep. Do not bring gas grills indoors to ‘warm up’. It will make you sick or kill you. Over half of hurricane deaths are due to carbon monoxide poisoning. See my presentation on how to prepare for and deal with a power outage. CAVEAT!!!!!

27. CAVEAT!!!!!

28. CAVEAT!!!!!

29. Seriously. Evacuate. EVACUATE

30. More Free Information I’ve put all the links to free apps, all gear mentioned and web pages on my web site at www.bobmayer.com Go to the GEAR page There are also free books on my web site, updated daily.

31. New York Times bestselling author, a graduate of West Point and former Green Beret. He commanded a Green Beret A-Team and also served in a variety of other positions. He was a certified instructor at the JFK Special Warfare Center & School which trains Green Berets and also runs the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) school. www.bobmayer.com